BUSINESS NEWS Stratforward Newsletter Issue 25 - 29 June 2016

In This Issue

River Festival

Other Place Open Day

Rosconn Sponsor for Raft Race

Lodders 10K

New Place Delay

Shake it Purple

Armed Forces Day

RSC Fairy Portal

Escape Arts

Diary Dates

Some 50,000 River Festival brochures, packed with information about the event, have been printed this year. 40,000 have been delivered direct to

households throughout South Warwickshire and another 10,000 have been

distributed to Stratforward members through the Town Hosts. If you require more copies of the brochure please ring Sandi at Stratforward to arrange for

them to be dropped down to your premises before Friday.

The brochures all contain temporary BID member cards to encourage revellers

to venture into BID businesses over the weekend and during the weeks follow-ing, to take advantage of special offers. BID businesses who participate in the

scheme are requested to check their offers are up- to- date and alert the Stratforward team to any required alternations

Download the brochure View the flip book

Nearly 100 charity, craft and food and drinks stalls will provide plenty for people of all ages to eat, drink

and do. Stratforward members involved in the festival include: Hathaway Tea Rooms, Home of The Sofa, Huffkins, Karl Stallard Furniture, Roly's Fudge Factory, Barry The Butcher, The One Elm, The View,

Bright Ideas, For Something Different, Shabby Chic Sister, Shakespeare Hospice, Sue Ryder, and Avon Boating.

Since it was established the River Festival has become one of the region’s leading free festivals. Last year’s event was not only a record-breaking year, bringing nearly 60,000 revellers into Stratford, but also scooped the

Tourism Initiative of the Year Award in the Touch FM Pride of Stratford Awards.

Let The Fun Flow - Thousands Expected to Flock to Stratford for River Festival

Stratford’s award-winning River Festival returns this weekend, with thou-sands of people expected to descend on the town to take in this unique

event.....one of the highlights in the annual Stratford town calendar.

The Stratforward-organised festival will see up to 100 narrow boats moor

up along the banks of the Avon - opposite the iconic Royal Shakespeare Theatre- providing a colourful backdrop to two days of full-on free family

fun on the Recreation Ground.

Alongside all the boats, the eighth annual Stratford-upon-Avon River Fes-

tival will feature a fantastic firework display that will light up the river and town at around 10.15pm on Saturday night and nearly 40 world

class acts that will dazzle crowds on the two stages. Saturday will be headlined by six-piece party band Mister Shakes featuring Brian Ferry’s

sax play and the event will close on the Sunday with one of the UK's leading Glenn Miller tribute groups - the Ashby Big Band.

Click here for the

E-BROCHURE

River of Ale Will Not Run Dry As

Elm Takes Helm

River Festival visitors don’t have to worry about going thirsty this weekend, with thousands of gallons of beer,

cider, lager, prosecco and Pimm’s being laid on for the event.

Stratforward member The One Elm won the tendering exercise to run the cider and lager tent, the Pimm’s and

prosecco tent, the ale tent, and a barbecue at this weekend’s festival.

And after the record-breaking number of visitors last year literally drank the bars dry, general manager Mat Faulkner said there’s no chance of that happening this year.

“We’ve ordered something like 12,000 pints of ale,” he said. “We’ve got 46 11-gallon containers of lager, 30 11-gallons of cider, 15 11-gallon containers of draught Pimm’s, and 15 barrels of fruit cider. We’ve also got 2,000

bottles of Prosecco and 3,500 pieces of meat for the barbecue.”

Mr Faulkner said preparations have been underway for months, with staff drafted in from other Peach Pubs in

the area.

The One Elm has been involved in previous River Festivals, he said, including last year when he was left gob-smacked by how much beer they sold.

“We were completely overwhelmed. We thought we’d ordered in enough beer to last through to Sunday night with maybe some to take back with us. We sold out of the beer on the Saturday night by 7pm.

“I remember we had one ale left on the rack and there was a queue that reached all the way round the beer

and lager tent.

“There was the last guy and he ordered three beers - I poured two-and-a-half and then it ran out. I literally had

to tip the barrel up for him to get the very last drop out to make it up to the third point. I’ll take that moment to the grave with me, it was brilliant.”

The One Elm, which earlier this year scooped the Best Customer Care award at the Touch FM Pride of Stratford Awards for the fourth year running, has been planning for months for the River Festival with final preparations

underway this week.

Mr Faulkner said: “To be involved in the months that lead up to it, and then right up to the day itself, it’s just superb.

“In a way, the most important thing for us is being down there in the community. Since I’ve been general man-ager the one thing I focused on is getting ourselves back out there.

“I like to do things for the community and Stratford is a great community to be involved in. Our main aim is making sure that the people of Stratford-upon-Avon enjoy themselves, whether they’re in the pub, at a street

party or at the River Festival.”

Barry the Butcher says "Let's Meat Over the River"

The owner of long-running Stratford business Barry the Butcher has come up with a

novel idea to make sure his stall doesn’t run out of hotdogs at this weekend’s river festival.

Adam Lucock, who set up Barry the Butcher 32 years ago with his late father, is not only supplying several other stalls at the Stratforward-organised festival this weekend

but will be running his own - Barry’s Barbie - selling their own homemade hotdog sau-

sages, burgers and marinated chicken wings.

But with a thousand sausages prepared for each day of the two-day festival and only

room in his cool boxes for 150 at a time, Mr Lucock has had to come up with a cun-ning plan to get the food from his fridges in Chapel Street to the stall on Waterside -

take to the water!

“We’ll probably sell about a thousand hotdogs on Saturday and a thousand on Sun-day,” he said. “We’re making them fresh on Thursday and Friday and I can keep them

in the fridge but our cool boxes can only take about 150.

“I thought, how am I going to get them from my fridge on Chapel Street? And jokingly

I thought I can use the chain ferry, but actually it is probably going to be the best

way. It’s pointless trying to get the our van through town, so we have to find other ways and as many of my loyal customers know we do like a challenge."

It’s not the first time Stratforward member Mr Lucock has found a novel way to get produce across Stratford, regularly using shopping trolleys to deliver supplies to his

customers on festival and mop days.

As well as his own stall, he’s also supplied lamb to Ross & Ross Food for its slow-cooked pulled lamb and pigs to

The Shakespeare Spit Roast Company for its hog roast.

This is the first year Barry the Butcher has had a stall at the River Festival and it comes after a successful stint at the 2015 Food Festival, also organised by Stratforward.

“I’ve been asked before to do the River Festival, but because we’re busy 52 weeks a year I have always looked at the calendar and I’ve had to decline. If I’m going to do something I’ve got to do it properly and it’s not been

the right time.

“I did the food festival which was a great success and the PR that that

gave me was unbelievable so this is the year to take it on."

RIVER FESTIVAL REVLLERS AND THEATRE LOVERS INVITED TO TAKE STAGE LEFT FOR

OTHER PLACE OPEN DAY River Festival revellers and theatre-lovers are getting the chance to travel back in time, with tickets for the RSC’s The Other Place up for grabs this weekend for just 70p - the same price they were in 1974.

Stratforward member the RSC is holding an ‘open house’ at the recently-reopened studio theatre this Saturday

from noon to 10pm.

The event will add to the host of activities on offer to thousands of visitors set to descend on Stratford this

weekend for the town’s annual River Festival.

The open house is offering a range of special activities for the whole family including the chance to buy tickets

for the RSC’s forthcoming Making Mischief Festival of new plays for just 70p - the price when the original The

Other Place opened more than 40 years ago.

The Other Place was the RSC’s original studio theatre and the starting point for some of the company’s land-

mark productions. It shut in 2006 to make way for the temporary Courtyard Theatre while the main theatre was revamped, and reopened this year to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

It is now home to a brand new 200 seat theatre space, the RSC’s extensive costume store, a new theatre tour dubbed ‘From Page to Stage’, and a café bar.

Saturday’s Open House event includes a range of free events to give a flavour of the special atmosphere at The

Other Place.

There will be 20 minute taster theatre tours, with glimpses into The Studio Theatre, a rehearsal room and the

Costume Store, which holds more than 30,000 of the RSC’s costumes. Tours run on the half hour between 1pm and 3.30pm, with half the tickets bookable in advance, and half available on the day.

The taster theatre tours will last 20 minutes, and will run at 1pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm and 3.30pm. Half

of the tickets for each tour are pre-bookable by calling the RSC Box Office on 01789 403493 and limited to two tickets per person. The other half will be available on the day, 15 minutes before each tour, from the box office

in The Other Place. Tours begin at Susie’s Bar in The Other Place.

As part of the open day, former Head of Wigs and Make-Up Brenda Leedham will lead Blood, Guts and Gore - a

session showing how the RSC creates fake scars and bruises. The event will take place at 12noon in The Events Space at The Other Place. Free tickets will be available 15 minutes in advance from the Box Office at The Other

Place on a first-come, first-served basis.

People who come to the Open House event will also get the chance to buy a ticket for the RSC’s forthcoming Making Mischief festival of new work at just 70p.

The festival, which runs in The Studio Theatre at The Other Place from July 27 to August 27, includes two new plays: ‘Fall of the Kingdom, Rise of the Foot Soldier’ by Somalia Seaton, and ‘Always Orange’ by Fraser Grace,

plus the return of the award-winning ‘Revolt.

She said. Revolt again.’ by Alice Birch, and Clean Break’s critically-acclaimed one-woman

show ‘Joanne’, performed by Tanya Moodie.

A hundred 70p tickets will be available to pur-

chase at the Open House from 12 noon. Tickets

can only be bought in person at the Box Office at The Other Place, on a first-come, first-served

basis.

A further 300 70p tickets will be available

throughout the festival, with a selection on sale

(Continued on page 6) Photo courtesy of Stewart Hemley - copyright RSC

every morning from 10am between July 27 and August 27, again in person at the Box Office at The Other Place.

The 70p tickets are limited to two tickets per person.

Saturday’s Open House event will also include activities for younger visitors, including a dressing-up box, special

colouring sheets, and a playcart with fun craft activities. There will also be a Big Pub Quiz from 7.30pm-9.30pm.

Most of the questions will be general knowledge, though there will be one Shakespeare-themed round so come and test your knowledge in this free-to- enter quiz. Just turn up on the night and form a team.

And on top of all this, there will be live music from Birmingham-based musicians and singers, Alima, Rochaé, Ed Geater and Barbella, and poet Raza Hussein, in the foyer between 5.30pm and 7pm.

Susie’s Cafe Bar in the foyer of The Other Place will be open from 10am, offering teas, coffees, sandwiches and cakes and from 5pm it transforms into a bar, serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. For the Open House

event, from 12 noon to 5pm Susie’s Café Bar will be offering a free filter coffee or tea with every slice of cake or

cookie, and a free babyccino when a drink is bought for the adult in the party.

This weekend, a visit to the Open House can also be combined with a performance at the RSC’s outdoor thea-tre, The Dell, just a few metres from The Other Place. On Saturday the Brit School performs Titus Andronicus at

1pm and Much Ado About Nothing at 3pm. Entrance is free and no booking required.

(Continued from page 5)

Rosconn Named

as Raft Race Sponsor and challenge fellow Stratforward members to Row in

If this weekends River Festival inspires you to take to the river then now is your chance.....in a few weeks time teams will take to the River Avon for the 40th annual Raft

Race. And organisers have just announced that Stratforward member The Rosconn Group are to be this year’s headline sponsor for the event.

The company’s support will pay for the safety teams on hand on the day to look after the competitors – and to help them negotiate the two weirs enroute.

This year’s 40th anniversary Raft Race – organised by the Wellesbourne and Shake-

speare Lions - will take place on Sunday July 24th. The main beneficiary for 2016 will be

Heart of England Mencap, working to support local people with learning disabilities. The race fundraises for dif-ferent local causes each year, banking an amazing £750,000 since it first began back in 1976.

The Rosconn Group was founded almost 11 years ago and has two arms to the business, Rosconn Develop-

ments and Rosconn Strategic Land, striving to create sustainable developments that enhance local areas.

Daniel O’Donnell, The Rosconn Group Managing Director, said: “Working with local communities is very much at

the heart of what we do and we are committed to supporting that community in every way we can. We feel very honoured to be the headline sponsor for this year’s Raft Race, supporting the Lions and Heart of England

Mencap - a charity we have formed a very strong link with. They do such great work with a broad spectrum of

individuals and we applaud that dedication. Our aim is to work closely with such organisations as they make such a difference to the lives of vulnerable people who need some support.”

Cath Errington, Fundraising Manager for Heart of England Mencap, said: “We are so grateful to Rosconn Group

for their support, which makes a real difference to a small charity like ours. We are so grateful to the Lions too

for choosing us as the main beneficiary this year – and to all of the teams busy getting their rafts ready for the day.”

And Stratforward members were this week urged to think about pulling together teams for the event. The race

sees teams paddling their homemade rafts 7.5 miles down the River Avon from Wasperton to Stratford. (Continued on page 7)

Race Committee Chairman Kelvin McIntosh

said: “This is a milestone year for the race and we need our local businesses and groups

to get behind us and sign-up for the chal-

lenge – there’s still plenty of time to enter and get raft building. It’s a huge amount of

fun on the day.”

Entry forms for this year’s Raft Race are

available online. Please go to www.raftrace.org.uk for all of the details or

call Lion Kelvin McIntosh: 07889 164765 or email enquiries@raftrace.org.uk

(Continued from page 6)

LEGAL LEGS AT LODDERS LACE UP

LACE up your running shoes and sign-up for Stratford’s Big

10k..that’s the call from Lodders –

confirmed as headline sponsor for the annual town fundraiser once

again.

2016 is the seventh consecutive

year the firm - a Stratforward mem-ber - has supported Stratford’s Big

10k race, which takes place on Sun-day 11th September.

Organisers are expecting around 1,500 runners will take part in this

year’s race, which starts on the Recreation Ground and then heads

out to Clifford Chambers, with the

runners returning to Stratford along the Greenway.

Anyone can get involved, they are just asked to raise sponsorship or to make a charity donation.

Stratforward members can follow in the footsteps of Lodders, which is already putting together its Big 10k team, headed by partner Steven Baker.

He said: “The Big 10k is an important feature of Stratford’s annual events calendar, and Lodders is delighted to

take a lead role once again in 2016 as a main sponsor of the event.”

Charity partner of the Stratford 10k is Shipston Home Nursing, a local service helping to support people with

terminal illness who want to be nursed at home.

Founded in 1997, the specialist nursing is free to patients and their families, making local fundraising absolutely

crucial.

The Big 10k is run by Tempo Events; for more information and to sign-up please go to: http://

www.tempoevents.co.uk/running/stratfords-big- 10k/stratfords-big-10k.php

Born to run - (left to right) are the first of the Lodders team to sign up for the Big 10k in 2016:James Mottram, Kate Higginson, Steven Baker, Maria Fitzgerald, Harry Edgington-Furlong, Nicola Eaton and Scott Parmenter.

RAIN STOPS PLAY FOR NEW PLACE PARADE - BUT NOT FOR LONG!

The reopening of Shakespeare’s New Place may have been delayed, but the CEO of the Shakespeare Birthplace

Trust has assured people that everyone involved in the project is “pulling out all the stops” to make sure it

opens as soon as possible.

The trust announced last week that the reopening of Shakespeare’s New Place, scheduled for this Friday, has had to be postponed due to record-breaking levels of rain in Stratford.

The site was Shakespeare’s family home from 1597 until he died there in 1616 and it is believed he wrote later plays, including The Tempest, there. The house was demolished in 1759 and now a garden has been designed

to commemorate the site’s importance.

Due to open this summer to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death, New Place will allow

visitors to follow Shakespeare’s footsteps through a new entrance on the site of the original gatehouse and get a sense of the scale of the house.

However, despite ambitious plans to reopen the site this Friday, torrential rainfall in the past few weeks has

made it impossible for groundwork to be finished, which in turn has delayed the installation of the new garden

on the footprint of Shakespeare’s family home as well as the extension to the exhibition centre.

But Dr Diana Owen, CEO of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said although the project has hit a stumbling block, everyone involved is working as hard as they can to make sure visitors can enjoy the newly-revamped

site.

She said: “We had an ambitious timescale for this ground-breaking project to re-imagine Shakespeare’s New

Place for the 21st century.

“We have met many unexpected challenges along the way, but the record rainfall has slowed things down in

the final phase. We are naturally very disappointed that we are not able to re-open as scheduled.

“Everybody working on this extraordinary project is pulling out all the stops, to ensure that visitors will be able

to experience this inspirational and enduring testament to Shakespeare’s legacy as soon as possible.”

A revised date for the reopening will be announced shortly.

STRATFORD TURNED PURPLE ON FRIDAY - AND IT WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REFERENDUM RESULT!

Stratford turned purple on Friday as businesses in the town centre put

their weight behind the Shakespeare’s Hospice new fundraiser - Shake It

Purple.

More than 100 local businesses and community groups from Stratford and further afield across South Warwickshire and North Cotswolds came

together to paint, play and ‘Shake It Purple’ to raise cash for the charity.

Wacky purple-themed activities included the creation of a superpower

purple ice cream by Hooray’s British Gelato Kitchen, while staff at Foun-tain and White Stuff raised funds.

Another Stratforward members got on board with the event, was Barclays Bank, whose staff ‘shook it purple’ in Stratford and across other branches

in Warwickshire.

Lauren Holt, Assistant Manager of Barclays Stratford, said: “All the staff in

our local branches got involved with Shake it Purple, baking purple cakes and wearing purple – we all had great fun. We were able to raise lots of

money for The Shakespeare Hospice thanks to the generosity of our cus-tomers.”

Sam Jackson, manager at fellow Stratforward member The Dirty Duck pub, said staff had donned purple for the day and customers had donated

their change to collecting tins on the bar.

“We often support the Shakespeare Hospice,” he said. “It’s one of our

biggest charities, along with Macmillan.”

The event is hoping to raise over £10k for The Shakespeare Hospice,

which last year supported nearly 900 patients and their families. The hos-pice relies on the generosity of the local community to raise £2 million

each year to keep the vital and unique services running.

The hospice thanked everyone who took part in this year’s event and en-

couraged anyone thinking of getting involved in next year’s Shake it Pur-ple to contact the fundraising team.

STRATFORD JOINS NATION IN SALUTING ARMED FORCES

Stratford joined the nation marking Armed Forces Day at the weekend, holding its own open-air ceremony.

The Mayor and members of the Town Council, along with members of local cadet forces and the Royal British Legion, gathered outside the Town Hall on Saturday

morning to salute the men and women of the armed forces.

Centred around the Town Hall, the event organised by Stratford Town Council in-

volved music from the Air Training Corps Band before a short ceremony at 10am.

Following a short prayer, spoken by the Mayor’s Chaplain, and a fanfare, the Armed Forces Day flag was raised on the Town Hall and the Mayor asked for three cheers

for the brave men and women of the armed forces.

The ceremony was one of thousands that took place throughout the country to mark

Armed Forces Day, a day set aside to show support for the men and women who make up the armed forces community, from currently serving troops to service fami-

lies, veterans and cadets.

This year’s commemoration came just a few days before the centenary of the Battle

of the Somme, when thousands of young men lost their lives in the fields of northern France in July 1916.

Fairy Portal Hundreds of visitors descended on Stratford last week seeking the magic of midsummer.

To mark what Shakespeare saw as the most magical time of the year, the RSC commis-sioned the Slung Low Theatre Company - specialists in theatre in unusual places - to create a unique ‘Fairy Portal Camp'

The camp on the Avonbank Gardens was inspired by the RSC’s current production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which runs until 16 July, and the meaning of Midsummer in Shakespeare’s time.

Visitors - many of them young - enjoyed an array of drop-in activities and the camp was rounded off with a special ceremony on Saturday night including a feast of live music, thea-tre, pyrotechnics and poetry.

Geraldine Collinge, RSC Director of Events and Exhibitions, said: “Midsummer was believed to be the most magical time of the calendar in Shakespeare’s day and we wanted to draw on this to create a special event as part of the 400th anniversary year and continue to make Stratford the destination for 2016.

“We were delighted to have welcomed many school groups and around 100 people a day to the camp finishing off the week long celebrations with a special ceremony for 300 revellers.”

To continue the summer celebrations the RSC has also teamed up with leading musicians from across the region to present a series of free mini-concerts responding to the themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The concerts will be performed in the Swan Gardens and in the foyer of The Other Place on Sundays until 16 July. For more information visit www.rsc.org.uk/events/midsummer-music

Photo courtesy of Sam Allard - copyright RSC

Photo courtesy of Sam Allard - copyright RSC

Photo courtesy of The RSC

Escape to the swinging sixties

Stratford returned to the Swinging Sixties at the weekend, with an array of 60s-inspired activities by Escape

Arts to mark the launch of its summer exhibition. Held at its home The Old Slaughterhouse in Sheep Street, the activities for children and families included flower power headdresses, a 60s-themed cafe and the chance to

spin some nostalgic vinyl.

On Saturday evening there’s a swinging sixties themed party, complete with cocktails, live music from Blackwa-

ter Ridge, a chance to learn the twist and a fancy dress competition.

And on Sunday, a scooter meet brought the sounds of genuine 1960s scooters to Stratford, along with a barbe-

cue and refreshments.

Escape Arts Artistic Director Karen Williams said the evening was a great success, with “lots of music and merri-ment”.

“The band Blackwater Ridge rocked the night away with lots of Hendrix, Cream and Fleetwood Mac. On the Sunday we had a fantastic turnout of scooters from across Warwickshire, they roared into town and were a

great feature!

“The 60s exhibition is open all summer, come and see the fantastic textiles create with Stratford College, spin

some vinyl in our 60s café and try out our milkshake summer specials.”

And If you missed the weekend’s return to the 60s, fear not! At 6.30pm tonight, Stratford Picturehouse will host

a one-off screening of the 60s classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

The film was deemed to be “injurious to public morals” by the Warwickshire County Cinematograph Licensing Committee back in the day – it was in fact the only county in Britain to ban it.

Fifty-five years later that ban has been lifted so you can judge for yourselves – and the screening will be fol-lowed by an informal discussion in the bar.

Stratford In The 1960s runs at The Old Slaughterhouse throughout the summer, alongside summer art camps for children and full day arts and media activities inspired by the 60s. For more information go to

www.escapearts.org.uk

Dates for your diary!

19th July - Stratforward Networking Briefing TBC

23rd July - Warwickshire Summer Holidays

24th July - Lions Raft Race

11th September - 10K Run

23rd to 25th September - Food Festival

25th June - Escape Arts Exhibition

27th June to 10th July - Wimbledon

28th June - Stratford Races

2nd & 3rd July - River Festival

TBA July - Reopening of New Place

9th July - Fun Regatta

Contact Us

Give us a call for more

information about our

services and products

Stratforward

10-11 Sheep Street

Stratford-upon-Avon

CV37 6EF

Main Line

Sandi

01789 292718

Events & Finance

Ruth, Tor & Pauline

01789 299011

Town Host

Dianne

01789 268291

07879 361735

info@stratforward.co.uk

Visit us on the web at

www.stratforward.co.uk

Stratforward improving business in Stratford-upon-Avon town centre All information correct at time

of publication.

Organised by Stratforward & Geraud

Stratford Food Festival on September 23rd, 24th & 25th 2016?

It’s a fantastic opportunity for food and drink businesses particularly.

Ways to be involved:

Book a festival market stall – 10 members will receive 50% discount – book now

Be part of the Taste Trails or Real Ale Trails

Advertise in the Food Festival brochure – member discounts. Deadline 13th August.

Show off your chefs - run a demonstration or workshop in the marquee.

Sponsor the festival – do talk to us if you’re interested

There will also be opportunities for local producers to book a smaller tables top in the

local produce marquee.

2017 STRATFORD FASHION SHOW WEDS 15 MARCH @ STRATFORD ARTS HOUSE

CALL US IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INVOLVED